


Deductive Reasoning

by PoorUnfortunateSoul



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Anxiety Disorder, Fluff, M/M, Recovery, Social Anxiety, general anxiety disorder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-19
Updated: 2016-05-19
Packaged: 2018-06-09 08:34:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6898732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PoorUnfortunateSoul/pseuds/PoorUnfortunateSoul
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Deductive Reasoning - A type of scientific reasoning of working from the general to specifics.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Deductive Reasoning

_"Generalized anxiety disorder:_

_Abbreviated GAD. A condition characterized by 6 months or more of chronic, exaggerated worry and tension that is unfounded or much more severe than the normal anxiety most people experience. People with GAD usually expect the worst._

_Psychological symptoms of GAD:_

_GAD can cause a change in your behavior and the way you think and feel about things, resulting in symptoms such as:_

_-Restlessness_

_\- A sense of dread_

_\- Feeling constantly "on edge"_

_\- Difficulty concentrating_

_\- Irritability_

_\- Your symptoms may cause you to withdraw from social contact (seeing your family and friends) to avoid feelings of worry and dread._

_These actions can make you worry even more about yourself and increase your lack of self-esteem._

_Physical symptoms of GAD_

_GAD can also have a number of physical symptoms, including:_

_\- Dizziness_

_\- Tiredness_

_\- A noticeably strong, fast or irregular heartbeat (palpitations)_

_\- Muscle aches and tension_

_\- Trembling or shaking_

_\- Dry mouth_

_\- Excessive sweating_

_\- Shortness of breath_

_\- Stomach ache_

_\- Feeling sick_

_\- Headache_

_\- Pins and needles_

_\- Difficulty falling or staying asleep (insomnia)_

_Anxiety triggers:_

_If you're anxious because of a specific phobia or because of panic disorder, you'll usually know what the cause is._

_For example, if you have claustrophobia (fear of confined spaces), you know that being confined in a small space will trigger your anxiety._

_However, if you have GAD, it may not always be clear what you're feeling anxious about. Not knowing what triggers your anxiety can intensify it and you may start to worry that there's no solution._

_Supporting people with GAD:_

_This can be a bit tricky, as each person is different. Try to understand where they're coming from, and if they seem unable to remove themselves from a situation (physically, due to involuntary muscle lock-up) do your best to remove them._

_Comments about how you like helping them and that they're not burdens are crucial, as it's easy for them to feel this way._

_For some, physical contact helps in situations of high anxiety; let the person touch you first."_

 

Slamming his laptop shut, Kuroo sighs and looks at Kenma, who's lying on his floor. He's still shaking under the blankets Kuroo had given him hours before, and his phone is still lit up from where it's sitting on his arm.

 

Reaching over the bed, Kuroo grabs the phone. It's still open to their messages, and even though he's already seen it, Kuroo thumbs through them again.

 

To: Kuro

Sent: 7:38 P.M.

They finally figured it out. GAD.

 

He stares at it until his eyes water, but he still doesn't know how to feel about it. On one hand, he's glad they finally found the reason Kenma feels so sick all the time. On the other, he wishes it was something physical, something that could go away.

 

From the looks of what he's read, it doesn't seem like there's much that can be done at all. With no source of the anxiety, Kenma can't stay clear from it.

 

Kuroo locks the phone and grabs the charger from Kenma's bag.

 

-

"Do you know why?"

 

Kenma briefly looks up from his game.

 

"I don't know what you always ask me that; you know what the answers going to be, Kuroo."

 

Sighing, Kuroo leans his head back against the bus seat. It's late, well past midnight, and Kuroo is exhausted. He was half-asleep when Kenma had violently shook him awake, begging him to let him leave their friend Yaku's house, right now.

 

Kuroo had almost told him no, that it was the last get-together they had planned with their volleyball team before his graduation, but he didn't. He remembered the pills left on Kenma's side-table, and how he forgot to check if he'd taken them.

 

He grabs Kenma's knee when a lady across the bus gives them a dirty look.

 

"Sorry," Kenma murmurs, but he's shifting around, looking for another body part to shake.

 

"You're not bothering me," Kuroo assures him, "but the lady over there is looking at you."

 

Kenma's body seizes up, and Kuroo squeezes his knee again.

 

"Damn it, Kenma, I'm sorry."

 

"It's okay," Kenma practically wheezes, reaching for Kuroo's hand.

 

"I forgot how much people looking at you bothered you."

 

"You're, it's - she was going to look at me whether you told me about it or not." 

 

Kuroo nods and shifts forward, trying to block the lady from Kenma's line of vision. Eventually Kenma's eyes drift back to the game on his phone.

 

He doesn't relax again until their in Kuroo's room. Much like the first time, Kenma collapses on his floor.

 

Kuroo retrieves extra blankets from his closet and drapes it over Kenma.

 

"I'm sorry," Kenma murmurs into the carpet.

 

"It's okay," Kuroo says, climbing into his bed.

 

Kenma turns his head and rests his hand under his cheek.

 

"I know that was important to you. I didn't mean to ruin it."

 

"You didn't ruin it," Kuroo says quickly. "We'd already stayed up until two and did stuff. Really, all that was left was to sleep and see everyone off in the morning."

 

Kenma picks a few stray pieces of fluff from Kuroo's floor and shrugs.

 

“Did you take your meds today?” Kuroo asks. Kenma nods. “Really?”

 

Kenma rolls onto his side to look at Kuroo. “Yeah. I took the ones I’m supposed to take at night, too. They don’t work.”

 

Kuroo leans back against the wall, and sighs. Kenma sits up.

 

“Do you have a t-shirt I can borrow? I sweat through mine,” he murmurs.

 

“Yeah, you can take whatever you want from my closet. Do the meds help you, like at all?”

 

Kenma shrugs as he heads to the closet.

 

“I don’t really notice, if they do.”

 

“It’s been four months; shouldn’t you have noticed a difference by now?”

 

“Probably, but I haven’t,” Kenma mutters, pulling Kuroo t-shirt over his head. “It might be me. I might be preventing myself from getting better.”

 

Kenma turns back around, fiddling with the hem of the shirt.

 

“Can you even do that?” Kuroo wonders aloud.

 

Shrugging, Kenma crawls into the bed next to Kuroo and rests his body weight against him.

 

“Do you think they diagnosed you wrong? Or gave you the wrong medicine?”

 

“What do you mean?” Kenma asks.

 

“I mean, if you have pneumonia and they give you cold medicine, it won’t get any better,” Kuroo explains, “I imagine that it’d be the same way.”

 

Kenma sighs and closes his eyes.

 

“I really don’t want to go through tests again.”

 

Kuroo wants to argue that he should, but Kenma looks exhausted, so he decides not to say anything. He smooths down a bump in Kenma’s blond hair.

 

“Okay,” he murmurs.

 

-

A couple days later, Kuroo spends his lunch break on the roof. The weather’s clear enough, though there are far off clouds and a smell that threatens rain.

 

Kuroo rests his laptop on his knees and pulls up Google. After typing ‘types of anxiety disorders’ into the search engine, he unpacks his lunch next to him.

 

He skims the results as he eats, until he comes across an official looking list.

 

_“Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)_

_A person feels anxious on most days, worrying about lots of different things, for a period of six months or more._

_Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD)_

_A person has an intense fear of being criticized, embarrassed or humiliated, even in everyday situations, such as speaking publicly, eating in public, being assertive at work or making small talk._

_Specific phobias_

_A person feels very fearful about a particular object or situation and may go to great lengths to avoid it, for example, having an injection or travelling on a plane. There are many different types of phobias._

_Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)_

_A person has ongoing unwanted/intrusive thoughts and fears that cause anxiety. Although the person may acknowledge these thoughts as silly, they often try to relieve their anxiety by carrying out certain behaviours or rituals. For example, a fear of germs and contamination can lead to constant washing of hands and clothes._

_Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)_

_This can happen after a person experiences a traumatic event (e.g. war, assault, accident, disaster). Symptoms can include difficulty relaxing, upsetting dreams or flashbacks of the event, and avoidance of anything related to the event. PTSD is diagnosed when a person has symptoms for at least a month._

_Panic disorder_

_A person has panic attacks, which are intense, overwhelming and often uncontrollable feelings of anxiety combined with a range of physical symptoms. Someone having a panic attack may experience shortness of breath, chest pain, dizziness and excessive perspiration. Sometimes, people experiencing a panic attack think they are having a heart attack or are about to die. If a person has recurrent panic attacks or persistently fears having one for more than a month, they're said to have panic disorder.”_

Kuroo digs out a pen and jots down everything. In his rush, the words come out looking almost unidentifiable, but knowing Kenma, he’d be able to read it anyways.

 

Looking back at the list, Kuroo scratches off OCD, GAD and Specific Phobias, leaving him with PTSD, SAD, and Panic Disorder.

 

_I hope this helps,_ Kuroo thinks, remembering the way Kenma had held his hand to his chest this morning, complaining about the annoying way it was beating.

 

-

Later that night, Kenma scans the list. Kuroo watches him analyze the list in a way that’s reminiscent of how his personality was before he started feeling sick, and Kuroo’s struck with an over-whelming feeling of affection for his boyfriend.

 

“What are the symptoms of social anxiety disorder?” Kenma asks, looking up at Kuroo through his bleached bangs.

 

“I don’t know, but we can Google it.”

 

Kenma nods and moves over on his bed to make room for Kuroo. Kenma’s room is smaller than Kuroo’s, and for some reason it’s always freezing. Kuroo keeps a stash of hoodies in Kenma’s closet, though Kenma ends up wearing them more than he does.

 

Kuroo brings his laptop to the bed, and they both stare at the screen while he types and clicks on articles.

 

“So, basically the same symptoms as GAD, only mostly in social situations,” Kenma concludes.

 

“Yeah,” Kuroo agrees, “and look – what you’re taking isn’t on the list of medication for it, either.”

 

Kenma hums in acknowledgement. “I thought they were all treated with the same stuff.”

 

“They’re all clumped together like they are, but if you read it more it says what specific drug is given for each disorder.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

They stay silent for a few minutes, and Kuroo plays with the strings on Kenma’s sweatshirt while he thinks.

 

“I think that’s what it is,” Kenma says softly.

 

“You have always worried about socializing more than most people,” Kuroo agrees.

 

“I guess. You’re not going to start treating me differently now, are you?” Kenma asks nervously.

 

“What? No. Why, was I treating you differently when you were diagnosed?”

 

Kenma thinks for a moment before shaking his head. “No, I guess not.”

 

“Good.”

 

Kenma smiles and Kuroo kisses the side of his head.

 

-

“How’d it go?” Kuroo asks next week, on the drive to the movies with Kenma, Lev, and Yaku.

 

“It was okay,” Kenma answers.

 

“Did they put you on something else?” Kuroo asks.

 

Kenma nods from the backseat and Yaku turns around briefly to look at him.

 

“You changed meds?” he asks, “How come?”

 

“Because they generalized my anxiety without looking into it enough.”

 

“Huh?” Lev asks from next to him.

 

“They diagnosed me with GAD, but I have social anxiety disorder. They asked what symptoms I had, but never asked what made me anxious. I didn’t even know it was an option.”

 

Lev grunts and Yaku glances at him in the mirror.

 

“How’d you find out about it, then?” he asks.

 

They turn into the movie theater parking lot; it’s surprisingly empty for a Saturday.

 

“Kuroo,” Kenma answers simply.

 

“Figures,” Yaku snorts, parking the car.

 

 “What’s that supposed to mean?” Kuroo demands to know.

 

They get out of the car and Lev chirps excitedly about their double date. Kenma doesn’t think anyone is listening.

 

“You’re kind of a mom, dude,” Yaku says, yanking Lev back before he can run out in front of car.

 

“I am not!” Kuroo argues.

 

“You kind of are,” Kenma says.

 

Kuroo looks pointedly at Yaku’s hand that’s wrapped around Lev’s wrist.

 

“I’m like this because if I’m not, Lev will _die._ ”

 

“Probably!” Lev agrees cheerfully.

 

Kuroo shakes his head and Kenma laughs. They walk inside and Lev bounds happily to the ticket line, pulling Yaku along with him.

 

“Hey,” Kuroo says, grabbing Kenma’s shoulder, “how are you doing?”

 

“I’m fine, _mom_.”

 

“Kenma…”

 

Kenma grins and shrugs Kuroo’s hand off of his shoulder.

  
“No really, I’m okay. See?” he says, holding up his hands. “They’re not even trembling. The medication _works_.”

 

There’s an excited glint in his eyes and Kuroo smiles.

 

“Do you think you buy your own ticket, then?”

 

Kenma bites his lip and looks over to the ticket line, where Lev is chatting animatedly to a pissed off looking employee.

 

“No.”

 

Kuroo laughs and kisses his forehead. “One thing at a time, then.”

 

“At least we know now, right?”

 

Kuroo grins. “Right.”


End file.
